News
Canada

All Quebec parties agree to re-table euthanasia bill

Quebec's Minister of Health Gaetan Barrette smiles as he signs documents after being appointed by Premier Philippe Couillard during a swearing-in ceremony at the National Assembly in Quebec City, April 23, 2014. (REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger)

Related Stories

In a rare show of unity, representatives of all major Quebec political parties agreed to re-table a controversial euthanasia bill.

The governing Liberals, opposition PQ and centre-right CAQ held a news conference in Quebec City on Thursday to say Bill 52 will again be presented before the legislature.

The proposed law died in March when then-premier Pauline Marois called an election that she eventually lost.

Bill 52 would allow doctors to give lethal injections to patients in Quebec who are terminal, debilitated or in "constant and unbearable physical or psychological pain."

Euthanasia is illegal in Canada and the word doesn't appear in the Quebec bill.

It's replaced by the term "medical aid in dying."

Health Minister Gaetan Barrette also refused to use the word euthanasia on Thursday and says the bill is much broader in scope.

"It's a bill about end of life care that is part of a continuum that ranges from health care to medical aid in dying, but with a very particular focus on palliative care," he said.

Barrette advocated strongly for the bill when he was head of Quebec's association of medical specialists.

He said all parties will allow MLAs a free vote.

Twenty-five Liberal members voted against Bill 52 last year when it passed to the committee stage, but Barrette said anyone who's against it doesn't "have the right reading of this bill."

The Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice, which has taken out ads against Bill 52, says patients already have the right to refuse treatment, but the Criminal Code forbids doctors from giving lethal injections.

"Even the Quebec bar recognized that it is a homicide," coalition president Dr. Paul Saba said.